Disclaimer: Though I might wish Alex Rider was mine, it sadly is not.

My New Year's wish didn't come true…

A/N: If you haven't read Starting Anew yet, you might want to (it's on my profile). While this can be read apart from that, there are a few references that you might not understand. Also, if you don't know the ending to Starting Anew… well, if you don't want to ruin the suspense, I once again, recommend that you read that first. Not that you have to…

"Your target is Alec Pierre. He is seventeen years old, and has been of particular interest to us for the past several years. Your task is to follow him from his school, to his place of residence. It shouldn't be a too difficult task for you, especially since he uses a cane. Keep him within your sights at all costs, but remember—this is a surveillance mission. Do not make contact."

Alex walked down the hall with only the slightest limp visible. In the months he had been present at the school, the stares had quickly lessened. No one paid any attention to the cane he had anymore. They didn't ask questions about his disappearances every four weeks or so because of health reasons either. It was only for a handful of days after all.

He found it somewhat ironic that the cover-up MI6 had used for months—poor health—was now a reality in some sense. He had his good days and his bad days, but the spaces between the bad days were getting longer and longer. Dr. Sayer had said that it would be a gradual process, now that he was over the worst of the injuries. And he knew things were getting better. He had been able to take a short walk out in the city with Ben the previous weekend without needing any assistance—from the cane or otherwise.

Definite progress.

He waved to the few friends—or maybe they were just acquaintances—he had made at the school on his way out. He had kept himself somewhat aloof, but it hadn't deterred the ones that were really persistent at gaining his friendship. It wasn't to the point that he'd invite them back to the flat, but enough that he interacted with them during the school day. Only one had gone so far as to question him about the cane, and… the explanation—a major accident in the months before he was supposed to start at the school—had been enough. The rumor had quickly flown around the school, and Alex had allowed himself a private smirk after that. One of MI6's more believable explanations for his injuries.

None of those friends followed him out of the school though. Some had extracurricular activities to participate in, or tutoring to give or receive, or something else that inevitably kept them busy at the school. It wasn't a snub to him. They were just more involved in the school and had tried more than once to get him to participate more. He had always brushed it off by saying that he was expected home.

It was a good thing no one followed him. While he never quite knew who MI6 had assigned to watch him on the inside of the school, he always met up with someone a block away from the school. The first two months at the school, he had taken a bank provided car back to the flat, but since then, Dr. Sayer had recommended he take the opportunity to get in some walking in the afternoon. Ben had decided that that meant he was to walk home from school. So long as it was a good day.

So, with his bag slung over his shoulder and Smithers hi-tech cane in his hand, he headed out for the last part of his day, before he could truly relax. The trek home. He had no idea that it would be any different from usual. If he had known, he probably would have called in sick that morning…

"The target is leaving the school and heading north. Teams Bravo and Delta, he's all yours."

The agent was, as usual, waiting near the bus stop. It wasn't the same person every day, and they varied their position just enough that it didn't seem habitual. It never took Alex more than a few seconds to spot them though. Of course, it helped that he knew which agent he was looking for in the afternoon. If they weren't there waiting, he was to immediately circle the block and return to the school, before contacting Ben.

It had only happened once, when his companion had been called away on an emergency. Jones had apparently seen that as a good time to test the system—since there had still been someone watching him. It just hadn't been the person he expected. Alex had been less than thrilled.

Normally, halfway through their walk back to the flat, they would pass through a park. The agent for the next day would be sitting on a bench, doing the crossword on the newspaper or talking to their 'grandmother'. It was all rather amusing for Alex, and he suspected that the protection detail on him was a way of giving the agents a bit of refresher training without all the risk involved. Yes, there was some sort of risk, or he wouldn't have needed the protection in the first place, but it wasn't very likely that someone was going to off him in the middle of London… Not that it hadn't been tried before…

The man near the bus stop fell into step beside Alex. "How was French?"

"Boring. I knew I should have taken Spanish instead." Alex gave the man a slight grin, conveying the rest of the message. 'Nothing happened in school. No contact from the person there.' If something had happened at the school, he would have said that he got sent to the Headmaster's office for cheating, and would have vehemently defended himself. Of course, that never happened. Nothing ever happened at the school.

It got rather boring to repeat the same code every day, but so far, no one around them had picked up on the repetition. But then, the code did change every few weeks.

The agent, one that Alex had gotten to know only as Greg, laughed slightly. He was a friendly sort, but one that knew how to balance watching the surroundings, yet carry on a conversation. Some of the others took the mute approach, and Alex was more than happy when he finally reached the flat. There were only a select few that Alex actually tolerated—mainly because they recognized that he had some sense.

"Couldn't have been that bad." Greg said, completing the signal. He hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary either. "So, what about your other classes?"

Alex shrugged, shouldering his bag more firmly over his shoulder. Greg employed the nonsensical chatter a lot more often than others did, but at least he seemed truly interested in what Alex had to say. "Maths isn't that bad, but keeping up with all the reading in English is killing me." He shrugged again, before tightening his grip on the cane. "Of course, if the world has its way, I'll be dead long before I get around to taking any important tests."

Greg snorted. "I forgot what a lovely outlook on life you have."

Alex merely rolled his eyes.

"Do you have anything on that man he met with?"

"He's a Gregory Winslow. Works at a bank in Westminster."

"Then what's he doing in Whitechapel… Keep an eye on both of them. Don't let them out of your sight."

Alex tightened his grip once more and swallowed against his unease. For the past two blocks, he had felt the sensation of someone watching him. Someone specifically picking him out from the crowd and paying attention to his movements. He itched to be able to turn around and find the perpetrator, but that would be as good as issuing an invitation to capture him.

He knew it was more than just MI6's usual precautions. It didn't feel entirely friendly, but not hostile at the same time. He wasn't quite sure what to think.

Greg seemed to catch onto his preoccupation, and flashed a quick hand signal that confirmed that he too felt the eyes. At least, of all days, he had a conversational agent. Some of the others probably would have ignored him, and then reacted on their own to the signs of a tail.

Greg slowed down to stop at a newsstand, and picked up the latest paper. He handed the seller the right amount of money, before tapping Alex's shoulder lightly. "Your cousin is still looking for a job. He tried at least three or four places this morning, but they all turned him down."

Alex adopted a bored expression and shrugged slightly. Three or four visible tails. Possibly more, since Greg wasn't sure he saw all of them. And they didn't seem to be going anywhere. "Did he try the bank? I know he didn't want to go there, but if he's not finding anything…"

"I tried, but he's rather stubborn. Likes to do things his own way. I'm not going to make a fuss about it, so long as the search gets him out of the house."

Ah. So Greg thought that they could lose the tails on their own. It made sense. Greg did know who he was working with, knew that Alex had to have picked up something about dropping tails in the past couple of years, and figured that not calling in the cavalry would be the best way to deal with it. They would, of course, go in the opposite direction of the flat. Toward the bank would be best…

Alex let himself indulge in a small grin, feeling the rush of adrenaline come on. Perhaps this would be his way of having fun. So long as nothing actually happened, he figured that it would be a good refresher for himself. And Greg didn't seem too concerned.

"They turned east. They're yours team Charlie."

"They're heading into the tube station. I need people down there now!"

Alex slouched in his seat, ignoring the glare that one of the ladies was giving him. It was a crowded time of day, and he was taking advantage of his disability to sit down. Greg wasn't so lucky, and was standing in the press, shooting glances in Alex's direction every now and then.

They both knew better than to think that losing the tails was as simple as getting on the tube and had, in fact, seen no less than three of the tails get on the tube behind them. They weren't in the same section, but they were there, and they were watching. One was in sight of Alex's seat, and he studied the man with a dazed out teenager gaze he had used to great effect before. By not making eye contact and instead looking past the man, it didn't seem like he was looking at him at all.

One of the things Ian had drilled into him when he was little. All part of a game…

The man was non-descript, rather young looking, and had the freshly trimmed appearance of someone looking for jobs at retailer type places. There was no distinct marking or jewelry, nothing that Alex could find connected to anything in his past. He was sure if he hadn't seen the person twice out on the streets—out of the corner of his eye—he wouldn't have blinked twice. A very good disguise. He blended in well.

A faint smile crossed Alex's face as his target completed a side pass with another passenger. He had noticed her before, when she stumbled into Greg a few minutes earlier. She was essentially burned and wouldn't show up again, but she had completed her mission. Most likely, she had placed a microphone or tracker on Greg's jacket. Obviously, they would have to do something about that.

Alex flicked his eyes in Greg's direction, catching the almost imperceptible nod, and stood up. They were getting off here and the using some more evasion tricks. The ride had done two things. It brought them closer to the bank and had also served as a way to get rid of some of their pursuers. Though they would likely catch up again, Alex had a couple tricks up his sleeve to throw them off. He was sure that Greg did too.

Being careful of the others, Alex wound his way through the people, so that he was standing beside Greg. The lady had stopped glaring at him the moment she saw his cane, and Alex allowed himself another private grin. Some people judged far too quickly.

He and Greg didn't say a word as they left the station, but a carefully coordinated stumble had Alex confirming the placement of the microphone. There was no telling if there was a tracker in it as well, but Alex figured it was best to consider a worst case scenario.

They walked down the street together, careful to match their pace to the people around them. They both knew that adrenaline and the need to get away from a situation could make it obvious that they knew they were being followed. For the time being, they didn't want that to happen. If they got within the circle of MI6's influence, their tails might just be found and intercepted for them. But they definitely wanted to lose them first.

"You had a friend you thought could help me revise for maths?" Alex asked, coming up with a relatively safe topic. It would permit them to exchange information without anyone listening really catching on. As long as Greg was quick on the uptake…

"Oh, yeah. She's getting a degree in mathematics. She's done tutoring at her university for the past couple of years, but wants more experience with the teenage population. A-level students." Greg swiped a hand through his hair, signaling that there were still three people following them. "Works part time at the bank to help ends meet, you know. The boss trusts her."

Alex turned this information over in his head. There were a couple of meanings, but only one fully made sense. He couldn't help but roll his eyes slightly. Of course. Now, how would he make this information useful…? "You'll have to introduce us sometime. Not this weekend though. I have too much that I have to get done. As I said before, English is killing me."

He saw Greg send a long glance in his direction, before a hint of a smile crossed his face. "Come on. We need to go over there." He gave Alex a nudge, nodding toward a store on the opposite side of the street. After they crossed the road, burning another set of tails, they entered a store that had just what they were looking for.

"They're crossing the street."

"E and G, you're out. Target has seen you. Continue on to base. Team Bravo, report."

"H here. Sorry sir, I'm the only one left active."

"Team Alpha is on their way as back up, H. Keep an eye on the target and don't let him out of your sight. We have a tracker, but it is a last resort. Use caution. Team Alpha will take over when target departs."

Alex held a finger to his lips, before flashing a hand signal in Greg's direction. The young man from the tube had entered the shop behind them, and was currently conversing with one of the sales clerks. He was doing a rather good job at looking interested in the things the clerk was showing him, so good that it almost seemed like he had an actual interest in the item.

Though why he would need baby clothes…

Alex shook his head, passing a jacket, shirt, and hat to Greg. Alex was always prepared for a disguise change, since he had his school bag with him. Greg though… wasn't. Thus, the need to stop in at the store. Thankfully, the store had exactly what they needed, and the clothes didn't have any security tags on it either. Some money left behind in the right place would have to suffice for the time being, since they couldn't actually go to the register.

A little manipulation with the security cameras in the store, removed their existence from the place, and Greg dropped a small tracking chip in the corner of the room. MI6—or someone similar—would come through later in the day to make sure that the store had proper compensation.

Since it was still a bit chilly outside, Alex grabbed a scarf off of a rack, before changing his clothes as well. They were out of sight from the tail, but he didn't think it would last too long. The man would find a reason to get back to the changing rooms, and Alex was determined to be long gone by that point.

Greg reappeared with his hair carefully spiked in the front, giving him a completely different appearance. He shot a grin in Alex's direction, before pulling on the jacket and fingerless gloves. They were on a roll, and weren't about to let those tails find them.

Alex stuffed the last of his school uniform into his bag, figuring that it didn't matter if his clothes wrinkled or not. He fished the large pair of sunglasses he had added to his bag for just this purpose, and slid them on over his regular glasses. Then, he opened a small cover on his cane, and pressed the proper button. The cane transformed from the regular cane, into the white cane for a blind person. It had taken him a week or so to learn how to use it properly, both with his eyes closed and open.

Glancing into a mirror, Alex confirmed that they looked different. The question was, if it was different enough for them to lose their tails…

They dumped Greg's previous coat, with the tracker inside, in the corner of one of the changing rooms, before making their escape out through the employees' entrance. Greg held his arm out so Alex could grab on, giving him the bit of support that he had lost from the switching of the cane, and they set off down the street.

Now they just had to get to the bank. And hope that their tails lost them.

"Base, the target has left the building. Repeat, the target has left the building. They must've gone out another entrance, because they're not in the back anymore."

"Team Alpha?"

"No sign of them out here. And the tracker is stationary."

"H, did you notice anything out of the ordinary inside the store?"

"No. The older one took a pile of jackets to try on, but they never returned from the changing rooms. They're not back here."

"Find them. Check the nearby streets. They can't have just disappeared. They're still around somewhere."

They circled the block twice before both Alex and Greg were satisfied that they had lost the tails. There were no suspicious looking people following them, and no too ordinary looking people either. So they headed the last couple of blocks toward the bank, set on making a report. After all, suspicious people following them was never a good thing.

The act of pretending to be blind had an added advantage. He was able to casually scan the area around them, whenever Greg stopped, such as at a light. No one had stared at him too overly long—aside from the standard curiosity that accompanied the dark glasses and white cane. He had been out more than once with this getup, and had received plenty of stares in return. But they were all a different type of stare, so he knew there was no one following him.

They entered the bank with no problem whatsoever—aside from the slight flickering grin that one of the guards in the room sent him. Another of his escorts that was rather friendly… and one that Smithers had picked to accompany him on his first test run with the white cane. The man knew exactly who he was.

Greg gave Alex a nudge toward the lift, and closed the doors behind them.

Alex pulled off the sunglasses, turned the cane back to normal, and let out a long sigh. "Well that was fun."

Greg just laughed.

Alex scribbled down a couple of notes from the book he was reading, before settling back in the chair. He had yet to see Ben, but guessed that the time would be coming sooner rather than later. It had already been an hour since Greg had escorted him to the empty conference room, claiming that if he had any hope to get any studying done, it was the best place to do it. Alex assumed that there were ulterior motives there—namely that no one wanted the teenager in sight, just in case someone who wasn't supposed to know about him came by.

So, when the door opened, Alex didn't bother to look up right away. It was only when he felt the atmosphere change did he look up. And then, the conference room did make sense. He pasted a smirk onto his face, barely keeping himself from rolling his eyes at some of the incredulous stares. Ben came to sit beside him, and Alex just shook his head, returning to his work.

The temperature in the room seemed to continue to drop, as more and more people came in. Alex didn't need to look up to see who they were. He had a feeling that the number would come out just around eighteen to twenty people, minus Ben, and the two other training agents, Braden and Mendelssohn. And Greg. Greg would have to be there somewhere…

Ben gave him a nudge in the side just a moment before the person in charge started, and Alex scribbled down the last of his notes before shutting his book. He wasn't about to miss this.

Braden was the one who called the room to order, though they all probably would have heard a pin drop. Only Alex's scratching on the paper had disturbed the silence in the past few minutes. "You all know why you're here."

Alex raised an eyebrow at him, and received the barest hint of a nod. At least he acknowledged that Alex had had no idea beforehand.

"Or rather, you all know why or are suspecting why." He fixed the others with a stare Alex had seen far too many times. "Perhaps someone would like to tell me why you lost your target, why you repeatedly lost members of your team, and why the target is sitting in this conference room."

Alex glanced around the room, taking in the slightly annoyed and sheepish glances, and nodded to himself. There were eighteen of them, and he had picked out seven of them in the crowds. There was no telling how many Greg had picked out as well.

"Vander, what were the objectives of this operation?"

The man that Alex had picked out on the tube blinked rapidly before responding. "To follow the subject between his school and residence. And to keep him in sight at all cost, sir."

Braden nodded. "Cooper, was this managed?"

A woman Alex hadn't seen in the crowds, across the table from Vander, shook her head. "No, sir. We lost both him, and the secondary target."

"In a clothing shop." Braden said, and Alex saw Vander wince slightly. "You had better be thankful that you made it as far as you did, or this entire test would have been a failure."

Though from the reactions around him, it seemed that they were all surprised it wasn't a complete failure. Alex wondered what made the difference.

"Alex, when did you first notice people following you?"

Alex stared at him for a few moments, almost surprised at being involved. But it was to be expected… "Four blocks away from the school. Er… Greg caught a look at the newsstand, and told me there were three or four that he could see. I didn't look."

"When did you look the first time?"

"When we boarded the tube. I saw two miss the train, and at least three get on. The pass to get the tracker and receiver to the right people was rather ingenious, I'll admit."

Braden gave the barest hint of a nod. "It was good, but it probably could have been done without losing a team member."

Alex shook his head. "No… I don't think so. Greg was on his guard. He would have noticed the instant someone bumped into him. Hell, I noticed, and I was a couple of seats away, and I was watching Vander. I would have missed the side pass though, if I hadn't been watching." He quirked his lips slightly. "Smooth."

That got more than one person's attention around the table. Now the glances weren't from annoyance at missing him, but now they were from genuine curiosity as to just what he knew. And how he had managed to spot their people with seeming ease.

"So Vander was already burned by the time you left the station."

"Yes."

Braden swept his eyes around the room, before coming back to Alex. "And what was the significance of your conversation about a mathematics tutor? I presume it wasn't just idle chatter."

Alex grinned. Now that—that had been a true masterpiece. Of course, there was always the possibility that their signals had completely missed each other, and interpreted it in their own way. "Well… since I'm not a hundred percent sure I interpreted Greg's words correctly… here's what I got out of it. The maths tutor was… erm… here." He wasn't entirely sure what to call the place.

"So, MI6 is a woman?" It was the first time Ben had spoken, and there was more than just a touch of amusement in his voice.

"Well there is a Tulip." Alex shrugged. "It sounded feminine enough."

There was a snort from Mendelssohn at that, before he waved Braden on. Even Braden seemed to be fighting a slight twitch of the lips… "And the rest of it?"

"Well, if she wanted more experience working with the teenage population—that would be me. Of course, she'd have to find me first. The clue about that bank was obvious, and I interpreted it as being a training run for the newbies—since 'the boss trusts her'. So, I told Greg that I wanted to meet sometime, but not then. We changed our disguise and came here." He fixed Braden with a glare. "Do you have any idea how many weeks are left until my tests? I need time to study. Not play your games."

Though, he had to admit, he had accidentally given permission months earlier. Ben had talked him around, claiming that it would be a fun experience. All the fun of evading someone, without the fear of being shot in the back. He had expected a little warning, at the least. He did know that they wouldn't be able to pull something that sudden again.

Braden gave him a small smile. "Resourceful. And that's why we chose a Friday, and not any other day."

Alex huffed. "Well you could have warned a guy first."

"Daniels wanted you on your toes."

Oh, he did, did he? Alex fixed a glare on Ben, who just grinned back at him.

"Now, for the rest of you. I'm sure you want to know where you failed." There were a few nods to this. "Your biggest failure, was underestimating your target. You saw a seventeen year old, with an obvious disability. What you did not see, were the characteristics of a person who is constantly watching for an outside attack or tail. We didn't chose him because he was just a teenager, we chose him because he's a teenager that has experience dropping tails. He'd be dead otherwise."

Alex stared down at the table, wondering just where Braden was going with this. Surely, he wasn't going to reveal his past to this group of newbies. They didn't have anywhere near high enough security clearance…

"Working here, you see a lot of things. And kids and teenagers get caught up in the midst of messes as easily as adults do. On both sides. Just because a target, whether it's someone we're tailing or protecting, is underage, doesn't mean that they're useless or that they'll miss things. Don't underestimate them."

Alex couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that, but didn't say anything. A few people glanced in his direction, but it seemed that the majority of the limelight had passed from him. Braden, Mendelssohn, Ben, and Greg—who wasn't really named Greg—went on to dissect the rest of the failed operation. In some ways, Alex was amazed how many people he had missed. The lady that had been glaring at him on the train, for example. She had stopped following them after that, and had returned to their temporary base, thinking she was burned. She was, in a sense, but Alex hadn't realized it. He was sure Ben was going to be ribbing him about it for weeks…

It was rather interesting to see how the remainder of the training session went, despite the fact that Alex knew he had a pile of work to get done over the weekend. Once the main people running the exercise had finished their critique, other agents that had been out on the street gave their observations. They pointed out what could have been done differently to keep Alex from catching onto their presence in the first place, and how they could have detected that he knew about them. From there, the people involved critiqued each other, though everyone stayed away from pointing any sort of advice in Alex's direction. He found it mildly amusing, but did notice Ben writing things down every now and then.

An hour after it started, the meeting wrapped up and the "newbies" headed back to their homes. The room cleared out for the most part as Alex gathered together his things again. He was more than ready to go back to the flat.

Just as he was about to put the book into his bag, Ben slid a small pile of paper toward him. Alex put the book down and glanced over the papers. It was entitled 'Tips to be a Better Spy'. Alex glared at Ben, grabbed the book again, and hit him over the head. "You, Benjamin Daniels, are so dead."

Ben just laughed.

A/N: Ah. That was fun and amusing. I got the idea while watching one of the old Doctor Who's (4th Doctor!) a couple weeks ago. The Doctor and Romana were in Paris, and there was a lovely sequence where a PI was following them through the streets, not-so-surreptitiously. Thus, this one-shot was born, and Alex got to have a bit of fun.

Please review and let me know what you think. I had fun writing this, so I hope you had fun reading it as well! I don't know if there will be anything else finished for the Starting Anew timeline, but I have a couple of ideas bouncing around. We'll see how much time and inspiration I have.

S.B.L